Shelmaliers’ Conor Tobin Strikes Gold in the Bord Gáis Energy Crossbar Challenge
Shelmaliers’ Conor Tobin eclipsed inter county stars both past and present on Wednesday evening in Wexford Park when he stole the show in the Crossbar Challenge at half time during the Bord Gáis Energy Leinster GAA Hurling U-21 Final.
With everyone failing to hit the target with their original three shots from the 21 yard line, a sudden death shoot out was called for and Conor hit the crossbar with his first attempt. This was no mean feat as Conor was competing against five other competitors including former Wexford great Larry O’Gorman, plus current Dublin senior players Finn McGarry and Simon Lambert. The other local representatives on the night were Kevin Kennedy, Oulart-The Ballagh and Jack Guiney, Rathnure but they too failed to match Conor’s efforts. Each player, was originally given three attempts to hit the crossbar with a sliotar from 21 yards.
MC Mick Devlin kept the crowd involved as best he could but such was the level of interest that he could barely see the action unfolding in front of him! For his efforts, Conor was presented with a prize of €500 worth of gear for Shelmaliers. Cork hurling legend Ger Cunningham, who is Bord Gáis Energy’s Sport Sponsorship Manager, said, “Conor is our first winner in this year’s Crossbar Challenge and we look forward to rolling it out again at the Munster final and indeed during the All-Ireland series. Fair play to Conor, at one stage it looked like we’d be there all night but his effort couldn’t have been better, rattling off the black spot on the crossbar. I was delighted to present him with €500 worth of gear for Shelmaliers and hopefully another three clubs will finish the season with €500 worth of gear.”